Your next watch could be life-saving

Biomedical devices researchers have been working on devices to help with medical conditions and improve the lives of its wearers. For example, recently, a wearable device was created that can forecast seizures 30 minutes ahead of time for individuals with epilepsy.

Current epileptic individuals may suffer from unpredictable recurrent seizures throughout the day and making them limit their range of activities. The wearable device will record physiological data and upload it regularly to online cloud storage for machine learning analysis, forecasting, and sounding the alarm appropriately.

With a device that is reliable in monitoring when seizures may happen, the individual will be alerted ahead of time to take medication or change their current environment and help prevent a surprise seizure.

With such news of its development, it will be interesting to see how far it develops to reach the millions of people in the world with epilepsy, and if other wearable devices could be developed to warn a person ahead of time of other potential medical issues. Biomedical technology companies such as Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), Biogen Inc (NASDAQ: BIIB), and Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ: BMRN) have already been investing in the research and development of wearable medical technology with various applications.

Personally, I think it would be ideal if an all-in-one kind of wearable device could be developed, from a culmination of this medical technology. Delivering these conditions can be a challenge since accessibility, effectiveness, and intrusiveness could create skepticism from an individual’s point of view. A wearable device that could forecast and monitor multiple factors that affect the wearer’s health, as well as helping to create better habits, will be very beneficial for society. Possibly, these medical devices could see cross-industry collaboration with tech companies that dabble in big data as well as produce wearable devices.

It also raises the question of how far technological advancements in medicine can help improve the health of people worldwide. Soon, in the future, will humans wear an all-in-one device to regulate and monitor their entire health system? Further, could such technology be implemented into the body itself, such that humans become cyborgs? It will be intriguing to see how the lines blur between man and machine, and which companies will take charge of the technology involved.